The Origin of the Ayahuasca Manifesto

The Manifesto was published anonymously. For this reason, Don José felt that due to the importance of its message, it should not be surrounded by any kind of mystery or speculation. In order to clear the space to the most curious readers here we formally disclose the origin of the Ayahuasca Manifesto.

The Manifesto was written by an apprentice of Don José after receiving clear visions from the spirit of Ayahuasca in two separate occasions. The first was in ceremony during a dieta held by Don José in September 2008. The initial message was an announcement to the writer that sometime in the future he would write a book called Ayahuasca Manifesto. The message said: “This is a project of José together with you. I need that you write this book “to defend me from the attacks that I will be receiving in the future.” And further said “ it must be a short and simple pamphlet, in manifesto genre, similar to other manifestos in history.” After this dieta the apprentice returned to urban life, got absorbed by the daily routines, and the book project became just a brief note in his personal journal.

Two years later, this same apprentice invited Don José to his hometown, and while enjoying a short vacation he connected again this time not in ceremony but spontaneously. This time he saw the same vision he had 27 months earlier. This time a voice from the high spiritual realms urged him to start writing the book immediately with a sense of urgency. He accepted the call and the information started to flow. In a matter of days the manuscript was finished in Spanish. Don José was amazed at the depth of the message and they decided to launch it in the form of a free e-book over the internet. In January 11, 2011 at 11:11AM an email was sent to dozens of friends in the Spanish speaking Ayahuasca community worldwide. Today any search engine will quickly show dozens of file sharing websites where the Manifesto is available for download.

As a final note, it is very intriguing how the events connect in synchronicity. When the English version was about to be finished in April 2012, a group of enthusiasts of the Manifesto in Spanish were already doing their own English translation in Denmark. They had developed a website specially designed to host the Manifesto in English. One day, the apprentice “casually” Google searched the term “Ayahuasca Manifesto” just to check what may come up. That’s how the apprentice found AyahuasQueros.com with a beautiful design ready to receive the new version. They met over Skype and became friends immediately, both laughing in joy for having found each other.

The Manifesto seem to have appeared to bring some order and ideals to the fragmentation and confusion that permeates today in the ayahuasca literature. Hundreds of papers and articles float in the internet with a wide range of approaches and perspectives, scientific papers, anecdotal accounts from artists and adventurers, pseudo religious sermons, travel reports, all lacking a common thread or direction. The Manifesto adds value to any newcomer researching the subject. After years of virality over the web, it has the potential to create a level of collective awareness that in itself shall protect the ayahuasca from the attacks she may receive in the future. We hope such is the case.